Record cleaner



Feb. 19, 1963 E. H. MURPHY RECORD CLEANER Filed July 11, 1960 United States Patent RECORD CLEANER Edward H. Murphy, 319 Cook St., Sioux City, Iowa Filed July 11, 1960, Ser. No. 42,069

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-4) My invention relates to a record washer.

- An object of my invention is to provide a compact device which will efficien'tly wash records of various sizes. A further object of my invention is to provide a record cleaner which will efliciently wash and dry the records automatically and by. simple operations.

With theseand other objects in view, my invention ,consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the. various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully ,setforth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, .in which: FIGURE 1 is a sectional view along the lines 1-1 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 2 is a'plan view of FIGURE 1, I FIGURE 3 is a detail of the spacer arrangements, FIGURE ,4 is a'furth'er detail,

of FIGURE 2 taken "FIGURE 5 'isa general view showing the arrangement in its collapsed form for carrying the same,

FIGURE 6 is a detail,

FIGURE 7 is a cross-section in detail showing the use of the spacers for the smaller playing records, and

FIGURE 8 is a schematic view of the electrical circuit.

My invention contemplates the provision of a simple and compact arrangement whereby several records can be automatically washed and dried by means of simple operations, and whereby the complete unit which is contained in a casing can be folded together and transported.

I have used the character 10 to indicate a base member to which is attached a carrying handle 11, and I have further used the character 12 to indicate a small electric motor having the gear case 13 which is adapted to drive the shaft 14 at a reduced speed. The shaft 14 is supported within a support 15 and extends into the blower or fan 16 which communicates to a resistance coil within a housing 17 which communicates with a flexible tube 18 which in turn communicates to the further tube 19 having a series of outlet openings 20.

Pivoted on the shaft 14 are a pair of arms 21 and received between the arms 21 is an endless belt 22 which is driven by the shaft 14 and which passes over a pulley 23 which drives a shaft 24 which is attached to the plates 25, and which shaft 24 is journalled within the arms 21. The flange 2 6 is attached to the end of the arms 21. The shaft 24 is narrow enough to pass through the usual openings in the records and is received within the rubber or other spacers 2.7, the shaft 24 terminating in the threaded ends 28 which are secured by means of the wing nuts 29 (see FIGURE 4).

The character 30 indicates a pair of posts mounted on the base 10, and the motor and fan 16, etc. are enclosed by means of a casing having the ends walls 31 and side walls 32, the side walls 32 having slots 33 to allow swinging passage of the arms 21.

Pivoted at 3 4 to the base 10 is a box-like casing having side walls 35, bottom wall 36, and end walls 37, the end walls 37 having the cut-out portion at 38 as shown in FIGURE 1, and pivoted at 39 to the base 10 is a further casing having the side walls 40, bottom wall 41 and end walls 42, and including the cut-out portion at 43 in the end walls. The character 44 indicates snaps which engage when the arrangement is closed together for carrying purposes.

The character 45 indicates a series of posts (see FIG- URE 6) each of which is spaced between the records to 3,077,622 Patented Feb. 19, 1963 Ice be washed, these posts carrying the bristles 46 at either side. The character 47 indicates a switch which is conneeted into the circuit as shown in FIGURE 8.

v The operation and use of the device is as follows. The character 48 indicates records to be washed, which records are of the larger size. The arms 21 are held in a substantially vertical position and a spacer is placed against the plate at either side and on the shaft 24, which shaft passes within the central openings of each record, and all of the records and spacers are put into place as shown in FIGURE 2, with the wing nut 29 being tightened against the end spacers in each case. A proper washing solution for washing the records is placed to the approximate level 49 (see FIGURE 1) in the right hand casing portion, and the spacers 27 will cover the .labels during the washing operation so that these labels will not be affected by the solution. The arrangement is then placed in the position shown in FIGURE 1 with the arms 21 resting on the right hand post and the switch 47 is then turned on which starts the motor, which through the reduction gear drive will operate the belt 22 and will thereby rotate the records 48 through the arrangement above described, the playing surface of the records rotating against the bristles 46 whereby all of the foreign material, etc. will be removed. Next the arms 21 are raised to the vertical position by means of the flange 26 and allowed to dry momentarily, and then these arms are swung over to the dotted line position shown in FIGURE 1 with the left hand post 30 supporting the arrangement and whereupon the air which is driven by means of the fan 16 and heated by means of the housing 17 will pass through the openings 20 against each individual record and dry off the same thereby completing the washing and drying operation, after which the records can be removed.

I have found that seals on the records are substantially the same size whether they are long playing or short playing records, and I have also found that the level of the solution at 49 will take care of washing the playing surfaces regardless of the record sizes. For the 45 rpm. records, or the records which have a larger central opening, I provide the spacers shown in FIGURE 7 in which the character 50 indicates these spacers having the centrally engaged portions 5-1 which fit into the larger openings 52 of each record so that in this way the smaller records can also be accommodated and washed and dried. The various spacers 27 or 50 are preferably made of a rubber or similar material so as to provide good gripping as well as protective characteristics.

The device can be readily transported since it can be folded into the shape shown in FIGURE 5 with the handle 11 uppermost and with all of the working parts inside of the arrangement. The casing which encloses the motor, blower, etc. will include atop wall 53, the slot 33 passing through this top wall also.

It will now be noted that I have provided the various advantages mentioned in the objects of my invention with further advantages being apparent.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A record cleaner comprising a centrally positioned base, a record washing unit pivoted to one side of said base, a record drying unit pivoted to the other side of said base, means for swinging a plurality of records to be washed first into said washing unit and thence into said drying unit, including a motor attached to said base, said motor having an extended shaft, a framework unit side.

2. A record cleaner comprising a cent-rally positioned base, a record Washing unit pivoted to one side of said base, a record drying unit pivoted to the other side of said base, means for swinging a said drying unit, attached to said base, said motor having an extended shaft, a framework pivoted on said shaft, a further lengthened shaft receiving said records and attached to said framework and spaced from said extended shaft a distance greater than the radius of the largest record to be cleaned, a plurality ing cut-out portions, said motor and said blowing unit having covering portions, a handle attached [to said centrally positioned base, said cut-out portions and said covering portions, together with said washing and said drying unit, providing a box-like casing for transporting said washer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,938,732 Mantell May 31, 1 960 

1. A RECORD CLEANER COMPRISING A CENTRALLY POSITIONED BASE, A RECORD WASHING UNIT PIVOTED TO ONE SIDE OF SAID BASE, A RECORD DRYING UNIT PIVOTED TO THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID BASE, MEANS FOR SWINGING A PLURALITY OF RECORDS TO BE WASHED FIRST INTO SAID WASHING UNIT AND THENCE INTO SAID DRYING UNIT, INCLUDING A MOTOR ATTACHED TO SAID BASE, SAID MOTOR HAVING AN EXTENDED SHAFT, A FRAMEWORK PIVOTED ON SAID SHAFT, A FURTHER LENGTHENED SHAFT RECEIVING SAID RECORDS AND ATTACHED TO SAID FRAMEWORK AND SPACED FROM SAID EXTENDED SHAFT A DISTANCE GREATER THAN THE RADIUS OF THE LARGEST RECORD TO BE CLEANED, A PLURALITY OF SPACERS POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID RECORDS ADAPTED TO SECURE SAID RECORDS FOR ROTATION AND TO PROTECT THE SEALS OF SAID RECORDS, A BELT PASSING OVER SAID SHAFTS BEING ADAPTED TO ROTATE SAID FURTHER LENGTHENED SHAFT TO THEREBY ROTATE SAID RECORDS, SAID WASHING UNIT INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF VERTICALLY POSITIONED BRUSHES POSITIONED BETWEEN SAID RECORDS AND ALSO INCLUDING A WASHING SOLUTION THEREIN, SAID DRYING UNIT INCLUDING A CASING INCLUDING A TRANSVERSELY POSITIONED TUBE HAVING A PLURALITY OF OPENINGS, A BLOWER UNIT MOUNTED ON SAID CENTRALLY POSITIONED BASE AND DRIVEN BY SAID MOTOR, A HEATER UNIT COMMUNICATING WITH SAID BLOWER UNIT AND SAID TUBE OPENINGS FOR DRYING SAID RECORDS WHEN SAID FRAMEWORK IS SUNG TO SAID DRYING UNIT SIDE. 